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A clip of former US President Donald Trump speaking about waging an all-out war on American democracy has taken the world of social media by storm. He made the alleged viral statement on December 2, 2023, during a campaign speech in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The short 8-second clip has spread like wildfire on social media, receiving over 1 million views in a day.
In the video, the former President allegedly said:
“We’ve been waging an all-out war on American democracy.”
As the clip went viral, many people were enraged by the former President's statement. Some, however, said that the clip might have been manipulated as it had been cut from between lines. They said the viral clip does not have his entire statement. The whole speech uploaded on C-Span proved that the clip was manipulated and taken from in between a speech where he said:
“Even the opponents sometimes say that he did very well, I have to say, "Take it back," his people scream. His people say "Take it back." From that day on our opponents, and we had a lot of opponents, but we've been waging an all-out war in American democracy. You look at what they've been doing, and becoming more and more extreme and repressive. They have just waged an all-out war with each passing day.”
Hence, Trump actually accused his political opponents of waging a war on democracy. This means that the former President did not speak about waging an all-out war on American democracy, and the news is fake.
“Hard edit”: Social media users respond to the fake video where Trump talks about waging a war on democracy
Trump has been in the spotlight for a while. First for his many cases in the court and then due to his frequent appearances in many states as he rallies to capture the seat of the President of the United States once again.
After Trump delivered a speech during an election campaign in Iowa, he was falsely accused of speaking about waging an all-out war on American democracy. As the clips of his speech made their way on social media, several people were convinced that Trump said what was shown in the video, while others called it a “hard edit.”
Here is how people reacted as @harryjsisson uploaded the manipulated clip on X (formerly Twitter):
While the news about Trump making the controversial statement is fake, it highlights the importance of verifying the news before sharing it on social media so that it does not mislead the masses.
